Apparatus for setting up cartons



Dec; 17, 1929.

E. L. SMlTH ET AL APPARATUS FOR SETTING UP CARTONS Filed D60- 2. 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet' l I VENR. ZZMLK M {)rr' I? TTORNEYS.

Dec. 17, 1929.

Filed Dec.

E. L. SMITH ET AL APPARATUS FOR SETTING UP CARTONS 2. 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q 0 7 oli Q 0 o o if 2! i if z T l a: I L

p g! 73/ L a ogvV'ENro M BY MI; 8 p64.

ATTORNEYS.

1929- E. SMITH ET AL 9,

APPARATUS FOR SETTING UP CARTONS Filed Dec. 2. 1927 3 Shee ts-Sheet 3 INVENTOR- .u, XM I BY ME My. r M

A T TORNEYS.

' sired mechanism where they may Patented Dec. 17, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELMER L. SMITH, OF LONGME ADOW, AND ARTHUR E. PHELON, OF SPRINGFIELD,

MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO PACKAGE MACHINERY COMPANY, 01 SPRING- FIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS x APPARATUS FOR SETTING U]? CARTONS Application filed. December 2, 1927. Serial No. 237,316. I

' This invention relates to improvements in machines for opening or setting up folded cartons.

As is well known, cartons which are to be filled with material for forming packages are usually furnished and shipped in their fiat collapsed or folded condition so as to occupy but small space and when it is desired to use them they must be opened up into article re-.

ceiving form so that material-may be placed therein.

The invention is directed particularly to apparatus for opening or setting up such collapsed cartons, and while the apparatus may be employed in connection with any carton filling or wrapping machine which is adapted to fill and wrap filled cartons, it may be adapted to open up and deliver cartons to any debe filled or packed. According to the nove features of the invention, we provide an apparatus which is constructed and arranged to successively remove collapsed cartons from a stack thereof and deliver the same one by one to mechanism which acts thereupon to open or set them up and then discharge the same in their opened up condition so that they may be filled with any material desired and subsequently wrapped to form a package.

The apparatus is designed to operate with a maximum of accuracy and speed in performing the desired operations which, with the,var1ous novel fea tures of the improve-' ments in mechanism for feeding and setting up the cartons, will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawin s, which for descri tive purposes illustrate t e invention in the form at present preferred.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of an apparatus embodying the novel features of the invention;'

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of the same with certain of the parts in another position; g

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary end elevational view showing the transferrin device about to move a carton through the c ute; and

Fig. 4: is a diagrammatic view showing how a carton is moved 'from its initial position below the stack through various mechanisms which open or set it up in box-like article receiving form.

Referring to represent a portion of a bed or frame and supporting members which are secured'together for. supporting the apparatus and which may take any form desired. The showing here represents a portion of a wrapping machine with which the apparatus may be employed, the wrapping machine taking the opened up box-like cartons discharged from the apparatus' for filling and wrappin the cartons to form a package. Cartons are usually supplied in folded up form as shown at C in Fig. 4, the particular form'shown consisting of a suitably scored blank which has its opposittg ends overlapped and secured'together as a A magazine 5 for holding a stack of folded up cartons is provided which is supported on "a bracket 6 and has upwardly extending side the drawings in detail, 1 and 2 r A carton feed plunger or pusher 12 which is reciprocable in a member 13 is preferably provided on its forward end with outwardly projecting carton supporting fingers '14 arrangedin a spaced relation. These are adapted when the plunger is in the position shown in Fig. 1 to support the stack of cartons and a transverse bar member l5fixed to the upper side of the plunger 12 is disposed so as to lie behind the lowermost carton of the stack and is slightly higher than or projects above the fingers 14; s forwardly or to he left the forwardedge of the bar will engage the lowermost carton and remove it from the bottom of the stack and carry it forwardly to a osition beneath a plate 17-whiohis fixed to-t e bracket 6. Thus at each forward movement of the plunger, the lowermost carton of the stack is transferred or carried from beneath the stack to a position beneath the plate 17 where it is supported by the fingers 14.

A transferring that as the plunger moves vertical reci rocation beneath the plate 17 and prefera ly comprises a tubular or hol-- low rod-like member 19 which is slidable in a guide 20 fixed to the bedl and which is held against a turning-movement by plates 21 at either side of a member 20. Suctioncups 22 preferably of rubber or the like for engaging aicarton are carried on the upper end of the member 19 and are adapted to yieldingly bear against the carton and press the same against the plate 17 A flexible pipe 23 carried by the lower end of tlie reciprocable member 19 may be connected to a vacuum pump or othersuction device so that as the cups22 bear on the carton blank suction may be applied thereto so that in-its lowering movement'the cups of the transferring device will by suction engage a carton and pull it downwardly through a chute and into a certain position therein. During this downward movement the carton will be opened up into box-like form by the'means now to be described with particular reference to Figs. 2 and 3. v I

An upwardly extending wall member 24 fixed to the guide 20 has an upwardly and outwardly extending or angularly-disposed horn or projection 25 against which a carton blank will strike as it is being moved there past by the suction cups. This horn is in the path of travel of the, carton and while it is engaged by and lowered by the suction cups, it engages the carton and serves 'to cam or swing the carton into an uncollapsed or opened up condition. A wall 26 fixed to the guide serves to guide the carton as it is bemg lowered and cooperates with the member 24 to form a carton receiving chute for receivin and holding the carton in opened up form y embracing opposite sides thereof after the horn 25 has opened up the same.

Thus the carton as it is moved downwardly is acted upon by the horn to gradually open and when opened is embraced by the members 24 and 26 and held in its open position. A stop 30 carried by the wall member 26 serves to arrest the downward movement of the carton and to support the opened up carton in a certain definite position.

The means for providing the suction for the cups is not shown herewith but will preferably be arranged to operate so that suction will be agplied to the carton just as the cups engage t e carton and commence their descent. Suction will be applied to the cups while the are descending and until the lower side 0 the opened up cartons brings up against the stop 30 which is fixed to the wall 26., At this point thesuction may be released so that the cups releasevthe carton whereby the transferring device may continue downwardlyto its lowermost position.

A check member 27 carried by a shaft 28 journalledin the mem r 24, is arranged for a swinging movement and normally lies in the path of movement of the downwardly descending carton. A spring 29 around the shaft, having one end fixed thereto and the other to the member 24 in the ordinary manner, is arranged to urge the member 27 upwardly so that it will lie in the path of the carton while an arm 27 is arranged to abut the member 24 to limit the upward movement 'thereof. As the carton descends past and engages the check member, it is depressed against the action of the spring. When the carton is at rest on the stop 30, since the upper corner of the ca'rton has moved past the end of the member 27, the said member will swing outwardly over and above the upper side of the carton and tend to hold the carton against the stop 30 should there be any tendency of the carton to spring upwardly when released by the suction cups.

With he carton at rest against said stop and held in its open position by means described, itis ready to be discharged from the apparatus by the'means now to be described.

A rod 37 reciprocable in standards 36 and 36' has forwardly extending carton engaging members 37 which may be termed discharge fingers which function as a plunger as the rod advances to the left to engage the rear edges of opposite sides of the carton and move it outwardly from between the members 24 and 26 to any carton receiving devicetdesired, such as a wheel having carton receiving pockets as indicated by dotted lines at W;

The members 37 are preferably provided on their forward ends with notches 37' as shown so that the edges of the carton may be received therein '30 that in their pushing action the ends of the members will not pass by the edges of the carton.

For illustrative purposes, we have shown the pocketed Wheel for receiving the discharged cartons, but it may be well desired to receive the cartons on a conveyor or the like so that they may be filled and then subsequently wrapped if desired.

The mechanism 15 operated by means of the following. A lever 40 arranged to swing on a rock shaft 41 is pivotally connected at one end by a link 42 to the reciprocable tubular shaft 19 of thetransferring device while its other end carries a roller 43 which is in operable engagement with a roove 44 of the cam 45 fixed to a driving sh'a t 46 by the means of which the suction cups are'raised and lowered to engage and move cartons one by one downwardly through the chute. A lever 48 oscillatable on the'shaft 41 is connected by a link 49 to a, bracket 50 fixed to shaft 35 while a cam roll carried by said lever ridesin a groove of a cam 51 fixed to thedriving shaft 46. As

this lever 48 is caused to swing back and forth,

the ejectors are moved so as to engage an opened up carton in the chute and discharge it therefrom.

A lever 55 also oscillatable on shaft 41 is connected to the pusher 12 by a link 56 and has a roll in engagement with a suitable groove of a cam 58 fixed on said shaft 46. As this lever is moved back and forth, the pusher moves thecartons from the magazine to its position below the plate 17 By means of the levers which are connected to the several reciprocable parts and by means of the cams for swinging the levers, the parts may be made to operate in-proper timed relation, the cam grooves not eing shown because as is well known in the art they may be made to operate the levers in any desired manner but will preferably be arranged so that the cartons are moved from the stack downwardly through the chute and then discharged therefrom one after the other.

The reciprocating parts may be operated so that the movement of one will overlap that of the other. This may be accomplished because the supporting fingers 14 of the plunger 12 are spaced apart so that the suction cups may pass therebetween while the pusher is forwardly of the position shown in Fig. 1

and also the suction cups may pass between the discharge members 37 when they are forwardly of the position shown in Fig. 1. In other words, these reciprocating parts which cooperate with one another to act upon the carton are arranged so that they may pass by one another without interference. Wherefore we are able to operate the apparatus at a comparatively high rate of speed because P it is not necessary to time the parts so that one is held at a rest position while the other is advancing into or out of its path of movement.

In operation, a stack of unopened carton blanks are placed in the magazine so that the lowermost carton rests upon the fingers 14 of the pusher 12. The pusher is advance to the left of the magazine and removes and carries the lowermost cart-on to its position beneath the plate 17. The transferring device then approaches the carton and is so timed that the suction cups 22 at the upper end of the stroke bear upon the lower side of the carton below the plate 17 and press it against said plate 17. After the cups bear on the carton they commence their downward movement and shortly before suction is applied to the cups so that the cups pull the carton downwardly through the chute formed by the members 24 and 26 and onto stop 30. during the downward movement, the horn 25 operates to swing the carton open so that it is received between the members 24 and 26 in an opened up box-like form.

When an opened up carton comes' to rest on the stop 30, the member 27 swings. in-

wardly over the carton to hold it on the stop and the suction cup device releases the carton and continues to its lowermost position. The discharge members 37 then advance and engage the side walls of the carton and move it outwardly from between the From the foregoing it will be observed that we have provided an apparatus for opening up folded cartons which is adapted and arranged to transfer a folded carton through a mechanism which cooperates with the transferring means to effect an opening up of the carton. Also it will be observed that the various reciprocating carton transferring parts are arranged to pass through the path of movement of the others without interference, whereby we are able to operate the apparatus at a high speed without any interference of the parts.

We are aware that many changes may be made in the form of the apparatus without departing from the scope of the invention, and we prefer therefore to be limited, if at all, by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description.

What we claim is:

1. The combination in apparatus for setting up folded cartons of a ma azine for a stack of folded up cartons, a c ute for receiving cartons in box-like form, means for ting up folded cartons of a magazine for a stack of cartons, a reciprocable pusher for removing an endmost carton of said stack, a plate, a transferring device for engaging a d carton carried by said pusher adapted to force the carton against said plate, engage the carton and move the same into said chute, and means cooperating therewith to open up-said carton as it enters into said chute.

3. The combination in apparatus for setting up folded cartons of a magazine for a stack of cartons, a plate, a reciprocable pusher for moving an endmost'carton of said stack against said plate, a transferring device for engaging a carton carried by said pusher adapted to force the carton against same into said chute, and means cooperating therewith to open up said carton prior to its entrance into said chute, a stop in said chute for supporting a carton delivered thereto and means in said chute for hearing on said carton tohold. the same against said stop. p

4. The combination in apparatus for setting up folded cartons of a magazine for a stack of cartons, a plate at a side thereof, a reciprocable pusher for moving a carton from said stack to a side of said plate, a transferring device below said plate reciprocable towards and away from said plate, the said pusher having spaced portions between which the transfer device may pass so as to force a carton blank carried by said pusher against said plate and adapted to en- 7 gage the carton to transfer it as the pusher is withdrawn.

5. The combination in apparatus for setting up cartons of a carton magazine, a pusher having a ledge for enga 'ng a single carton and pushing it from t e magazine and having a forked extension serving to support the collapsed carton, a plate under which the carton is carried, at least one sue: tion on 'movable into en agement with the carton etween the brane es of the pusher, and means in the path of reverse movement of the cup for opening up the collapsed carton. 4

In testimony whereof we have afiixed our signatures.

ELMER L. SMITH. ARTHUR E. PHELON. 

